DANIEL: ABIDING UNDER PAGANISM

1. DANIEL: ABIDING UNDER PAGANISM

2. Daniel: Abiding Under Paganism • Introduction A. What? B. Why? (Relevance) C. Terms • Historical Contexts A. Biblical B. Contemporary • The Text - Biblical Lessons • Conclusion

3. What?

4. Why?

5. January 2015 From 1979 Series World View: “Time passes by in such a subtle manner that occasionally an event causes one to exclaim, 'Where have the years gone?' My thoughts moved to very serious matters. What should a father be telling his son who is moving into a college environment? What are the intellectual traps that Satan has set? What is the moral climate of the typical college campus? Are we fully aware of the secular humanistic attitudes that prevail? Are we alert to the penetration of the evolutionary hypothesis? Are we aware that what was born as theory limited to one field is now the assumption of virtually every major field of study? Are we aware that every major secular university is a socialistic institution? How may we prevent the rape of our children's minds? Are we so blind as not to see that we have forsaken a culture based on Christian principle? Do we see that our freedom to study the word of God could well disappear?...In short, do we concur with the apostle John that the 'whole world lies in the power of the evil one?'” “In seeking to answer these questions, one soon discovers that secularism, humanism, relativism, and socialism are not merely the theme of college campuses, but that they come to us by the hour through the media and are constantly reflected in national policy.”

6. Why?

7. Terms • Paganism • Neopaganism • Relativism • Secular Humanism • Postmodernism • Moral Equivalence

8. Terms • Paganism • Neopaganism • Relativism • Secular Humanism • Postmodernism • Moral Equivalence

9. dictionary.com Pagan(ism) • (no longer in technical use) one of a people or community observing a polytheistic religion, as the ancient Romans and Greeks. • a member of a religious, spiritual, or cultural community based on the worship of nature or the earth; a neopagan. Disparaging and Offensive • (in historical contexts) a person who is not a Christian, Jew, or Muslim; a heathen. an irreligious or hedonistic person. an uncivilized or unenlightened person. Heathen • (in historical contexts) an individual of a people that do not acknowledge the God of the Bible; a person who is neither a Jew, Christian, nor Muslim; a pagan. • Informal. an irreligious, uncultured, or uncivilized person.

10. Terms • Paganism • Neopaganism • Relativism • Secular Humanism • Postmodernism • Moral Equivalence

11. dictionary.com Neopaganism • a 20th-century revival of interest in the worship of nature, fertility, etc., as represented by various deities.

12. Terms • Paganism • Neopaganism • Relativism • Secular Humanism • Postmodernism • Moral Equivalence

13. Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry (CARM) Relativism Relativism is the philosophical position that all points of view are equally valid [moral equivalence], and that all truth is relative to the individual. This means that all moral positions, all religious systems, all art forms, all political movements, etc., are truths that are relative to the individual. Under the umbrella of relativism, whole groups of perspectives are categorized. In obvious terms, some are: cognitive relativism (truth) - Cognitive relativism affirms that all truth is relative. This would mean that no system of truth is more valid than another one, and that there is no objective standard of truth. It would, naturally, deny that there is a God of absolute truth. moral/ethical relativism - All morals are relative to the social group within which they are constructed. situational relativism - Ethics (right and wrong) are dependent upon the situation.

14. Terms • Paganism • Neopaganism • Relativism • Secular Humanism • Postmodernism • Moral Equivalence

15. Secular Humanism wikipedia.com The philosophy or life stance of secular humanism (alternatively known by some adherents as Humanism, specifically with a capital H to distinguish it from other forms of humanism) embraces human reason, ethics, and philosophical naturalism while specifically rejecting religious dogma, supernaturalism, pseudoscience, and superstition as the basis of morality and decision making. Secular Humanism posits that human beings are capable of being ethical and moral without religion or a god. It does not, however, assume that humans are either inherently evil or innately good, nor does it present humans as being superior to nature. Rather, the humanist life stance emphasizes the unique responsibility facing humanity and the ethical consequences of human decisions. Fundamental to the concept of secular humanism is the strongly held viewpoint that ideology—be it religious or political—must be thoroughly examined by each individual and not simply accepted or rejected on faith. Along with this, an essential part of secular humanism is a continually adapting search for truth, primarily through science and philosophy. Many Humanists derive their moral codes from a philosophy of utilitarianism, ethical naturalism, or evolutionary ethics, and some...advocate a science of morality. Oxford dictionary humanism, with regard in particular to the belief that humanity is capable of morality and self-fulfillment without belief in God.